Two TISS students denied anticipatory bail for alleged slogans supporting Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam

A Mumbai court on Friday denied anticipatory bail to two students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences who were booked for allegedly shouting slogans in support of jailed activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, The Indian Express reported.

The students have also been booked for possessing downloaded books and other material that the prosecution alleges reflects Maoist ideology.

Seven others, who were also booked after taking part in an event in October commemorating the death anniversary of former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, were granted anticipatory bail, the newspaper reported.

Saibaba, who had more than 90% disability and used a wheelchair, spent over seven years in jail on accusations of having links with Maoists. In March 2024, he was acquitted by the Bombay High Court and released. Seven months later, in October 2024, he died of post-operative complications in Hyderabad.

On Friday, the court said that while paying homage to Saibaba was not unlawful, the allegations that the students had shouted slogans in support of Khalid and Imam, along with the material recovered from their electronic devices, weighed against granting them anticipatory bail, The Indian Express reported.

“Being students, it was expected from accused persons to respect the law of land,” the newspaper quoted the judge as saying.

Khalid and Imam have been in jail for more than five...

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